An Invisible Red String
by Yuuto Tamano
Summary: AU. Ever since Natsume bumped into that brunette-haired girl, he always coincidentally sees her wherever he goes. Everyday. And that's getting him crazy. Just how he deals with it? "Maybe, you and that girl are connected by some red string."


**Disclaimer: **Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana, however the plot is mine. **Warning: **Expect some OOC-ness and grammar errors. I've warned you.

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**An Invisible Red String**

by Yuuto Tamano

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It was started with a simple greeting.

The books she held crashed down to the ground, creating quite loud sound and gaining the crowd's look. She panicked and tried to apologize to the raven haired man she bumped into, not minding the slight hurt on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't looking! Are you okay?"

"No, it's okay. I wasn't too." he responded while bowing down his body to help her collected the books.

"Thank you." she said with a smile plastered on her face as she quickly walked away.

The man, namely Natsume Hyuuga, glanced at her back for a while and once again plugged his earphones into his ears. She was pretty, even he admitted it. But he quickly washed that thought away, because he knew he would never meet her again and never interested to.

After all, he never put any interests to a girl. Not that he's a gay, but he just didn't.

Just how wrong he was. The next day he recognized the same brunette haired girl as the one he bumped into was buying some kind of sweet food, namely Howalons, in the store he passed by. And the next day after that day, his crimson eyes caught her again walking down the street from the bus he rode.

The next three days were also the same. He saw her again and again, _coincidentally_.

He saw her reading a book in a park he _coincidentally _walked through it. Her sleeping in a train he _coincidentally _hopped. Her listening to musics inside a music store he _coincidentally _walked in.

And all that was sickening him.

"I think she's stalking me!" Natsume lamented to his best friend since elementary, Ruka Nogi, when they skipped classes and were now in their high school's rooftop.

Ruka just laughed in response.

"Seriously, Ruka, she's always in sight wherever I go. And that's almost everyday!" he continued, losing his cool. He only lost his cool in front of Ruka though.

"Or it's you who's actually stalking her."

"Ruka!" he snapped and glared at his best friend. Only causing the blonde guy laughed harder.

"Sorry, dude. I was just kidding."

"That's not even funny."

Then they were surrounded with silences for a moment before Ruka started to speak.

"Maybe, you and that girl are connected with each other by some red string."

Natsume raised his eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"Aoi told me yesterday that there's a legend which is now popular in her school. That legend says if you tie a corner of red string on your pinkie finger and also tie its other corner on your lover's, your lover will become your husband or wife in the future."

"And you actually believe that shit?"

"However in your case," Ruka continued, ignoring his words. "the red string on your pinkie finger and on that girl's, is simply invisible."

Natsume stared at his best friend with disbelieve. "Damn it, Ruka! You hang out too much with my sister. You sound like that gay Narumi."

Narumi was their homeroom and Japanese teacher. He was infamous with the weird-looking clothes he wore everyday and his girlish attitude.

"I'm not gay, Natsume. You know I love Hotaru." Ruka corrected. He slightly blushed when he mentioned the name of a girl he had a crush on. Hotaru Imai was, in fact, the school's Ice Queen. She liked, scratch that, loved to blackmail people and was scared by almost the entire school but him and Natsume. Sometimes, even Natsume didn't understand why his best friend _unluckily _fell for that evil girl. "Besides, I was stating a fact."

Natsume was getting irritated by now, "Look, Ruka," He lifted up his right hand. "there's no such thing tied on my finger. That's bullshit. You're already 17, Ruka, be a grown-up and do not ever believe in that shit anymore—"

"Like what you said, it's invisible Natsume. Of course you can't see it." Ruka cut him off, being a stubborn.

Natsume cursed mentally as he held back the urge to punch his best friend hard on the face. Then he decided to change the topic.

-o0o-

Natsume walked through the school corridor with a frown plastered on his face. This morning, on his way to school, his eyes spotted the same brunette haired girl in pigtail again. No, this time he even _passed _her. He swore he could smell strawberry scent in her and everyone knew that the almighty Natsume Hyuuga loved that fruit very much. Okay, maybe _not _everyone, only Ruka and his family who knew.

How could she smell strawberry? That very question was now filling his mind. Now Natsume wholeheartedly believed that that girl was indeed stalking on him. He shivered at that thought. Hell, he should know better than that. It was just impossible for her to stalk him. They were strangers. Even she seemingly didn't take a notice of him everytime they _met_.

How much he hated it when that girl filled his already frustated mind. Even he didn't know her name!

As he slammed the classroom's door open, he decided that no matter what he should find a way to not seeing her again.

-o0o-

Natsume mentally convinced himself that he did the right thing.

Earlier this morning, he had told Ruka about his decision and that he would need his best friend's help to do it. The over-excited Ruka only nodded and grinned rather suspiciously. At first he didn't bother to mind that but what he didn't expect was when the school ended, Ruka immediately dragged him to a club room, placed in the west corner of their school, and on the door he could see a plank which read 'The Fortune-Telling Club'.

"Are you sure, Ruka? If you're not we can always go back—"

"Yes, I am, Natsume. So let's get inside!" he said with a grin as he unhesitatingly opened the door.

Natsume widened his eyes when he saw a curly, silver haired girl with a veil covered half of her face, from the tip of her nose to the bottom. She sat calmly on a chair and on top of a desk, which was placed in front of her, was a big ball made from glass. He didn't know what that thing's name was and didn't really care about it.

"Welcome to the fortune-telling club. What can I help you?" the girl said.

Ruka made his answer first, "Umm, Otonashi-san, my best friend here has a problem. A very big one. I can't think of anyone else to solve his problem other than you!"

Natsume didn't expect that Ruka knew that weird girl's name.

"Tell me what it is."

Ruka then went on explaining all of his story with that certain brunette haired girl to Otonashi. When he finished, she just nodded.

"This is such a very rare case." she paused for a while as she touched the glass ball. It reddened for a moment, surprising the two handsome guys in front of her. "There is a very, very long red string connects Hyuuga with that strawberry girl."

"What?" Natsume shouted in disbelieve. His crimson eyes twitched in annoyance when he saw Ruka gave him a told-you-so look.

"Yes, a very long red string connects you both." she repeated. "It's some kind of fate. Any couples who are tied with that string, will be stuck with each other forever. In other words, that strawberry girl is your mate, Natsume Hyuuga."

"My what—!" he shouted louder.

"Your mate, yes." she continued, "Anyway, your wish is merely not to see her again forever. That is kind of not possible, actually. But if it just for a while, I can make it."

"How?" asked Ruka.

"1000 yen please."

"What?" Natsume shouted for the third time, not believing he had to pay for the problem solving. _Problem solving my ass, _he thought. But his eyes grew wider when he saw Ruka paid for the price. "Ruka, what are you—"

Ruka winked then grinned, "It's okay Natsume. I trust her. She has also solved my problem before."

"No, it's not that..." Natsume cut off his own words, finally registered what Ruka had said into his mind. Ruka's problem? What problem? How could he don't know about that? But knowing Ruka, that must be involving Hotaru Imai in any ways. He loved her that much for his own good.

"Okay then," Suddenly Otonashi got up and walked toward Natsume. "Hyuuga, please repeat what I do."

Before he could utter any words, Otonashi lifted up both of her hands. Then they swung rhythmically to the left and right, to the left and the right. Her feet then started to dance, mimicking her hands' movements. As she was doing that, her eyes stared straightly at Natsume.

"Please dance with me, Hyuuga."

Quickly he shook his face. "No. I'm so not going to—"

"Yes, you are, Natsume." Ruka interrupted. "If you want to stop seeing that girl again, you have to dance with her. Anyway, I've done this before and it's kinda fun."

Natsume sweat-dropped and his mouth hung open. He couldn't do anything against this now, could he?

-o0o-

The moment Natsume stepped out of that so called fortune-telling club room, he swore he would never come back again. Ever. He glared at his best friend for forcing him to do all this crazy thing from the very first moment. Though he couldn't blame Ruka for this. His best friend only tried to help him. After all, it was him the one who asked for his help.

And what did he get in the end? A very weird-looking juice.

Otonashi said he had to drink that juice before he went to sleep this night, or so he recalled. But, for the first time he saw that azure colored juice, he decided that he would throw it away. To the garbage. Without Ruka knowing it, of course.

And he did it. Successfully.

-o0o-

"Red string? Oh, I know one thing about that! Wanna know?" Koko asked happily. His goofy eyes wandered to Ruka and Natsume, obviously pleading them to say yes.

"No." Natsume said quickly, getting sick of that damned two words.

In the end, Koko would tell them anyway even though they said no. "It is a curse! The red string is actually a curse. Man and woman who are tied together with each other by that string will be cursed forever. They are forced to see each other everyday, either coincidentally or purposely. It is also said that they will be stuck with each other forever! Underline the 'forever' there! Isn't that horrible?"

Natsume nodded. "Yes, it is." He in fact was still one-sided meeting her.

"Even Natsume agrees with me!" he squealed excitedly. "By the way, why are you guys talking about red string thing out of all topics?"

"Umm, you see," Ruka started, "there's this friend of mine. He seems to be involved with some certain red string."

"Oh, poor him!" Koko said sadly. "Luckily for your friend, I know a way to cancel out all red string curses!"

Quite interested, Natsume focused his gaze at Koko. "What is that?"

"Simple! Your friend should talk to the girl the red string connects him with. Be friend with her and try to always be close to her. Make her falls in love with him. But he shall not love her back! I mean it! He just has to pretend he's in love with her. Then when the time's right, cheat on her. Do anything possible to break her heart into pieces. Until she totally hates him and they will never want to see each other again. That way, the red string which connects them both will be broken off and gone."

Both Ruka and Natsume were frozen and their mouth hung open. They couldn't believe their ears when they finished hearing what their friend had just said. They never expected the happy-go-lucky Koko had such a cruel thought inside his little brain.

Shivering, Ruka was the first one to respond, "I-Isn't that even more, more horrible than the red string curse?"

"No! Of course it is not! I think it is indeed the best way to break the red string curse!"

Unknown to Ruka, Natsume seemed to totally agree with that.

-o0o-

He had planned it all out the night before, so he would make sure to have it done successfully.

It was the first day of weekend and he was now leaning on a big tree trunk at some park near his house. He checked his watch as its hands pointed to one o'clock in the afternoon. The sun was shining brightly and he felt comfortable with the gentle breeze blew pass him.

What was he doing? Of course, he was waiting for _her_.

Just when he was about to close both his eyes, he saw her, walking toward a bench and then sitting on it. He watched her opened her book and silently read it.

He didn't know either to be grateful for his red string _curse_ or not, so that he could find her easily without much attempt.

_Because wherever he goes, she will be there also._

He smirked as he made his paces toward her. When he thought he was enough close to her, he coughed slightly, gaining her attention.

"Hi. Remember me?" he greeted with a small smil—smirk.

The brunette haired girl dressed in a short-sleeved pink shirt and knee-length lace skirt looked up at him. He almost held his breath when he saw her big hazel eyes. Those were pretty. She was indeed very beautiful, he thought. He blinked as he quickly threw away that thought, remembering his plan.

"Oh, I remember you!" she exclaimed happily, "You're the guy I bumped into, about two weeks ago?"

_So she remembers me, _he smirked inwardly. _This will be as easy as I think it will. _"Are you alone? Can I sit here with you?"

"Sure." she said as she shifted a little to give him more space.

The chat was going well as he had expected. He also finally knew some things about her, like her name was Mikan Sakura, she was 17 like him, and she studied at a private high school not far from his. But what surprised him was when she told him that the Ice Queen Hotaru Imai was her neighbor and childhood friend.

What a small world.

The next day he _coincidentally _met her again at a busy street of Shibuya. Using the chance, he asked her to have lunch with him and she agreed. This time he got to know more about her. She was so childish and innocent. He even could read through her like an open book. She also loved to smile and laugh a lot, sometimes irritating him to the point that he would call her idiot.

Then the next day after that, he met her again in a bookstore after school, with him buying _manga _and her buying novel. It continued day by day. They met after school and talked. Everyday. Mostly she was the who talked and he only listened to her.

It was going so well. He's sure she was growing fond of him as days passed.

And he planned to make her fell deeper until no one could help her.

Her bought her sweets, clothes, and flowers. He ignored her refusal and kept buying her things. He held her hand and sometimes put his own hand on her shoulders. He smirked widely when he saw her blushing so hard when he touched her reddened cheeks, her nose, her chin, and her pink lips.

Then he kissed her passionately. He noticed how much she loved him when she responded to their kiss.

Since then every time they met, they would exchange kisses.

Everything went so well and he was proud of his job. After all, no girl could resist him. He was charming and gorgeous. The most handsome man God ever created. Any girls could drawn into his unique crimson eyes and they begged so hard only to see his rare smile. Mikan Sakura was not an exception.

It was all perfect. And just like Koko said, he just had to wait the perfect time to break her heart and tore off the so called red string.

But unfortunately he had one problem.

A big one.

Like what had said, everything went so well. Everything was perfect. But he never expected it would be _this _perfect. Too perfect for his own good.

Because as much as he loathed it, he had also fallen in love with her. Hard.

In other words, all his plans had messed up.

He didn't expect that he would find her amusing and attractive. He liked to have her around him and kept thinking of her when she was somewhere far from him. He felt right having her in his arms. He even admitted to himself he was a bit jealous when he saw her talking to another guy. He never knew before that he could be so possessive toward her. He loved her as much as she did. So that he promised himself he would never break her heart and would protect her from any possible harms.

For the first time in his life, he was so grateful of their first meeting and then the one-sided meetings afterward.

But he still refused to believe that was all because of an invisible red string. Like what he had thought before, such thing never existed.

"Natsume." Mikan called him, bringing him back from his musing.

"What?" he replied.

"I want to buy howalons first before we go the amusement park. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure." he said as he ran fingers through her hair. Suddenly, his crimson eyes grew wide in shock.

Was it only his imagination, or he really saw a red string knotted on his pinkie finger?

He blinked his eyes thrice and the red string was gone.

"What's wrong, Natsume?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Let's go."

**The End**

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****Author's Note: **How was it? Was it good or not? I hope you like it. This idea came into my mind when I was on my way to go to school. It didn't turn out to be what I want but I think this way is quite nice and readable. Anyway, please REVIEW! If you do you make my day brighter than usual. Here's the epilogue of this story. It will reveal everything of this story. Enjoy reading!

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**Epilogue**

"How's your date, Mikan?"

The said girl, Mikan Sakura, turned her head to her best friend, Hotaru Imai, and smiled widely, showing her white teeth. As she hugged Hotaru she answered, "It was so much fun! Except when he forced me to go into haunted house. He was so mean, Hotaru! He kept forcing me even though he knows I'm scared of ghosts!"

Sounds of laughing afterward could be hear from the two guys next to her.

"But you enjoyed inside there, didn't you?" asked Koko, the goofy one. "Imai told me you kept hugging his arm until the finish line."

Hearing that, Mikan blushed hard, gaining laughter from Koko and the other guy whose name was Ruka Nogi.

"U-Until now I still couldn't believe that h-he would fall in love with you, Sakura-san." Ruka said between his laugh. "I mean, he even never had a liking towards girl before he met you."

Hotaru smirked, "I told you he was a gay."

"No! He wasn't, isn't, and will never be!" Mikan snapped as she gently punched Hotaru on her arm before he hugged her again, "But if it's not because of you and your red string idea, Hotaru, he would never know me and my one-sided feelings for him. So thanks a lot!"

Hotaru smirked once again, "You're welcome."

"I agree with Sakura-san. You're great Hotaru!" Ruka praised as his face reddened a bit, "I mean, you should have seen his face when I told him about red string. That time I thought our plan wouldn't work. He even accused me as a gay!"

Hotaru rolled her eyes, "You are praising me to gain my fondness, aren't you? Believe me, it doesn't work. And Hyuuga was right, you are a gay."

"No, I'm not! You know I love you, don't you?"

She didn't response. Yes, he had confessed his love to her about a month ago. That time she didn't give him an answer and still yet until now. That once made him frustated so that he went to Otonashi's place to ask her if Hotaru loved him back or not. After doing some weird dances, Otonashi told him that she did but she was to shy to admit it and that he should wait for the right time to come. That's why he continued loving her that much.

"By the way, Hotaru, how did you know where Natsume was going everyday so that Mikan could be at the same place as him?" Koko asked, curious.

"I have my sources." Hotaru answered simply.

"Damn, you're so scary..."

"Anyway, Hotaru," Mikan asked, "As the one who came up with the idea, do you believe in red string legend?"

"Of course not. That legend remains as legend forever. Do you?"

Mikan thought of it for a while, "Umm, No? I think I don't."

"Me neither!" Koko exclaimed excitedly. "Hey, we should celebrate our success! How about dinner at Russian Sushi in Ikebukuro?"

"I know that place! I heard the sushi there is made by two Russian men and it's very delicious." Ruka responded, "Count me in!"

Mikan raised her hand, "Me too!"

"I'm in only if you treat me, Koko." Hotaru said uninterestedly.

Ruka responded excitedly, "I will treat you, Hotaru!"

As Hotaru rolled her eyes once again, Koko quickly dragged her and Ruka out of the house, Mikan's house. While Mikan only smiled seeing her friends and was about to follow them when she saw her reflection on the mirror that causing her to widen her hazel eyes.

Was it only her imagination, or she really saw a red string knotted on her pinkie finger?

She blinked her eyes thrice and the red string was gone.

"Hey, Mikan! What are you still doing inside? Come on! I'm hungry!" she heard Koko shouted from outside.

She shook her head, "Okay, I'm coming!"

**Epilogue - End**


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